Cricket: Batting for Success – Part 2
Record-Making Performance Cont’d
Five months after the controversial appointment of Logie, the Paul Campbell-administration was voted out of office at the Annual General Meeting on May 11. President Lindel Wright is now leading the new executive.
The year also marks the return of Marlon Samuels to West Indies cricket after he was banned for two years by a WICB disciplinary committee in 2008 for discussing team information with an Indian bookmaker.
Samuels became eligible to play again after his ban expired on May 10 of last year and later that month travelled with the Jamaican squad for a tour of Florida. He made his way back into the West Indies team following a good season in the WICB regional four-day competition.
Samuels stood out with three centuries, including an unbeaten double. The 30-year-old amassed a tournament-topping 853 runs at 65.61 in helping Jamaica to the historic record-equalling fourth straight title.
Before the regional four-day tournament came to an end, Samuels declined a chance in February to play in the Cricket World Cup as a replacement for an injured Dwayne Bravo of Trinidad. Samuels said at the time he was not 100 per cent ready for One-Day cricket, and wanted, instead, to focus on the four-day game.
However, he was recalled on April 13 and accepted the invitation for the series against Pakistan in the West Indies.
He is one of five Jamaicans in the present West Indies squad – the other being wicketkeeper/batsman Carlton Baugh Jr, Andre Russell, Danza Hyatt and Krishmar Santokie.
There is no place in the squad for former West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who had a very successful stint in the Indian Premier League.
A recent release from the WICB said Gayle will not be selected until he attends a meeting with management following his comments surrounding his decision to head to India to play in the Indian Premier League.
Grace Headley Cup
Cricket at the school level is very popular with St Andrew Technical High School (STETHS) and Holmwood Technical dominating the rural-area senior competitions for the last decade.
STETHS have already won the Grace Headley Cup, the all-island Spaulding Cup for the fifth consecutive year and Jamaica International Insurance Company limited-overs title this year.
The Headley Cup success this year was STETHS fifth straight and the 24th going back just over 30 years to the late 1970.